Nature or Nurture
by coldfusion9797
Summary: On the run with Bella, Colby and Dean have to figure out what's next. Dean/Colby. Two-shot. Set after the episode that aired in Australia on 27.11.18.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Wow, the last couple of eps have been intense. Here are my thoughts on the matter with a slash twist of course. Enjoy**.

Colby pulled the door closed and locked it. He hated having to do this to his little sister.

"She alright?" Dean asked, waiting outside the cheap motel room for him. Staying here was a bit of a risk, but they needed to regroup, and he was counting on Bella's dislike of cops to stop her from yelling for help.

"No," Colby sighed, taking a seat on an old bench so he could keep watch.

He leaned forward, arms resting on his knees. Looking down, he saw that his hands were shaking. Dean sat down beside him, laying a hand on his back.

"What about you?"

This was the first chance they'd had to take a breath since this morning. And thinking back, he'd done things he never thought he'd be capable of. Like forcing Bella to do something against her will. Throwing her over his shoulder as she struggled against him. His hand came up to his neck where she'd scratched him, it still stung. And then shoving her in the car. Exactly like Ross had done all those years ago...

He couldn't speak, couldn't voice and make real the fear that he had become what he hated.

He shook his head.

"Hey," Dean said, leaning in closer. "You did what you had to do."

He'd thought that once before too, and Dean had paid the price.

He lifted his eyes to meet Dean's, he wasn't so sure. There were always choices.

"Did I?"

Bella hadn't actually been in danger, just living a life he didn't agree with.

Dean knew him, knew what he was thinking.

"She had no options there. Eighteen-year-old girls aren't supposed to answer the door with a crossbow."

He was right, seeing that cold look in Bella's eyes, it was too much like what he'd faced down every day growing up.

Bella had changed for the worse. Dean had been her friend too and she'd fired that arrow right at him. In that moment when she'd taken aim, Colby had been terrified. For that split second, he'd thought he was going to lose Dean.

"I was so scared," he admitted.

"She isn't herself," Dean offered.

Colby wrapped his arms around Dean.

"I thought I was gonna lose you," he whispered.

Dean hugged him back.

"Nah, I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank you. For everything."

Dean's foot bumped his and Colby hissed with pain, pulling back.

Dean looked down at the bloody rag wrapped around his shin.

"C'mon," he said, cupping Colby's cheek and looking into his eyes, leaving all the most important things unspoken. They'd said it all before, they both knew what this meant. "Let's go inside and fix that up."

Colby let Dean help him up, and unlocking the door they went inside the room. Bella was tucked up at the end of a single bed in the corner, looking like a caged wild animal. She was glaring at them hatefully.

"Figures you're a pair of fags," she spat. Colby winced, it hadn't even occurred to him that she would hate him for this too.

"Sit down," Dean instructed, easing him down on the end of the bed, before turning on Bella. "Shut up if you're not gonna help."

"Aw, I've upset your little boyfriend now," she sneered at Colby.

He was at a total loss. How did you reason with someone so unwilling to listen?

"Dean's your friend too..." he reminded her.

"I don't need friends like _that_..." It was Ross's ignorant bigotry coming out her mouth.

Dean shot him a look that said he was gonna snap. Fighting against abduction was one thing, personal attacks were another.

But Colby was a cop, he knew the tricks, she was trying to rile them up, maybe push them into making a mistake.

"Leave it," Colby said softly. "Just patch me up so we can get going in the morning."

Thankfully Dean let it go, and went to grab what he needed. That turned out to be a motel issue towel ripped into strips and some bottom-shelf vodka from the mini bar.

Dean unpeeled the blood-soaked cloth from around his leg and slid his jeans up. His leg felt swollen and tender and when Dean looked up at him, he knew it wasn't great.

"How long since you've had a tetanus shot?"

"A couple of years."

"That's good."

Colby leaned over to see for himself. It wasn't so much a cut as a jagged tear. It wasn't gonna heal pretty, especially without stitches, but that was a small price to pay.

"This is gonna hurt," Dean said apologetically. That was nothing new, they'd done this plenty of times before. Dean worked quickly because he knew what he was doing. He'd have made a good wartime medic, managing to get things done with basically no resources.

"I'll change it again in the morning," Dean said when he was done.

Colby looked up to see Bella watching intently.

"Dean's had plenty of practice," he told her. "Whenever Ross beat me up."

"I don't care what you do," she dismissed, turning away and laying down. At least she was settling in for the night.

Colby shared a look with Dean. What were they gonna do?

"Get some sleep," Dean decided. They'd been awake for close to thirty-six hours now.

"You need it too," Colby said.

Dean stood up and chucked the bloody rags in the bin.

"You need to heal. I've got this."

Colby couldn't argue with that, he'd be useless if this got any worse.

Dean sat on the bed, propped up where he could keep an eye on Bella. Colby laid down beside him, choosing to use Dean's thigh instead of the pillow.

"Wake me in a few hours."

"Alright," Dean agreed, running his fingers though Colby's hair. That touch was the best medicine of all.

It was a totally messed up situation and he had no idea what they should do next. But he drifted off to sleep, comforted by the knowledge that whatever it was, they'd do it together.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I admit this isn't great. It's an exercise more than anything, to get me past some writer's block.**

He was so sleepy. The adrenaline had worn off and he was heading towards his third day with no sleep. He hated to wake Colby, but falling asleep and letting Bella get away would be worse.

"Hey," Dean said, giving Colby a gentle shake. "You gotta wake up."

"Why...?" Colby mumbled. "What happened?"

"No, nothing," Dean whispered. "It's your turn to keep watch."

"Umm, yeah. Okay," Colby agreed, stretching awake.

"Sit up," Dean encouraged. "So you don't fall asleep again."

"Yeah, alright," Colby yawned, pulling himself up. He looked pretty wrecked still, but they couldn't help that for now. Once they got further away and had a solid plan, things would be better.

Dean glanced over at Bella one more time and then settled down to sleep.

"Wake me before the sun comes up."

"Okay," Colby agreed.

Dean settled down, back pressed against Colby's leg. Colby laid a hand on his hip, and Dean closed his eyes for some much-needed rest.

xxx

When Dean blinked awake the sun was shining in the window. Bloody Colby must've decided to let him have some extra sleep. It was a luxury they couldn't afford right now.

He could still feel Colby pressed warmly behind him. He turned around to see what the go was, ready to remind Colby what was a stake here, when a distressing sight met his eyes.

Colby was asleep.

He looked over at Bella's bed. It was empty. Shit.

"Oi," he said, shaking Colby to wake him up. "Where's Bella?"

It took Colby longer than it should have to wake up.

"Bella?" he frowned. "She's gone. Ross took her and mum away."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've been looking for her everywhere..."

There was something very wrong with this picture.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Not really," Colby frowned.

He grabbed Colby's face, it was hot with fever.

"Hey, c'mon. You're sick. Try to think. When did you see her last? She was right there in that bed."

Colby looked across the room, and back at Dean.

"I don't know..."

"Shit."

"What?"

Dean unwrapped the cloth to check Colby's leg. It was red and swollen and full of pus. They'd waited too long to clean it, it was infected.

He didn't know what to do. The longer they waited around here, the further away Bella would get.

He tried to haul Colby up, maybe get him to the car so they could look for Bella, but as soon as he stood he puked all over the floor. Dean let him sit back down, pressed a hand to his forehead, he was burning up. An infection this bad could be really serious, he needed a doctor and some IV antibiotics, but if they took the time to do that, Bella would be gone for sure. If she made it back to Ross they'd have no hope stealing her away a second time.

Maybe he could call an ambulance and go after Bella himself. That's what Colby would do. Nothing would stop him following her. He would put Bella first. Dean knew that from experience.

He didn't wanna make this call. Either way he was stuffed. He had to choose between abandoning Colby or letting him down. He'd rather the choice be on Colby.

"You need a doctor. What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Just let me lay down for a minute..." Colby said, hazy and unfocused. Dean helped him, knowing he hadn't even really registered the question. If he had, he would've said 'find Bella'. Dean was gonna have to make this call on his own.

He grabbed his phone to put in the call. An ambulance wouldn't take too long to get here, in a town this size there was no traffic to fight, but what if they were already on a call?

"Shit..."

Dean grabbed a face-washer, ran it under the cold tap and laid it across Colby's forehead.

He tried to imagine walking out of here, knowing Colby was sick and alone, even if it only would be for a little while, and he knew he couldn't do it. He wasn't like Colby, he didn't have that ruthless streak that had allowed him to walk away from the scene of a car accident.

"C'mon," he said, hauling Colby up again, supporting all his weight.

"Are we going to get Bella?" Colby asked.

"Yeah," Dean lied. Once he knew Colby was gonna be okay, then he could think. There would be consequences, Colby was going to blame him, but they'd just have to deal with that later. Right now, all he needed was get Colby some help, and to stay by his side until they could work out the next step together.


End file.
